Colombian admits drug trafficking

NEW YORK, June 17 (UPI) -- The top leader of a former Colombian rebel group labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, Tuesday pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.

Diego Fernando Murillo-Bejarano, head of the Autodefensas Unidas De Colombia, admitted in federal court in New York that he conspired to import cocaine into the United States, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia and Acting U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said in a news release.

Murillo-Bejarano, who also went by the names "Don Berna," "Don Bernardo" and "Adolfo Paz," arranged for tons of cocaine to be smuggled into the United States to finance his group's fight against the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, Colombia's main guerrilla group, prosecutors said.

Colombian authorities, at the request of the United States, arrested Murillo-Bejarano in Colombia May 27, 2005, and he was extradited to the United States May 13 of this year.

Murillo-Bejarano, who will be sentenced Dec. 18, will receive a term at least 10 years but will not receive a life sentence as part of the extradition agreement between the United States and Colombia. His plea agreement stipulates a range of 324 to 405 months in prison.